Economics, Anarchy, Panarchy
Economics, Anarchy, Panarchy

Author(s): Jack High
Subject(s): Economy, Political Theory, Economic policy, Political economy
Published by: Addleton Academic Publishers
Keywords: Liberalism vs anarchism; Adam Smith; William Godwin; economic anarchism; Proudhon mutualism; jus ad rem; capital goods; vertical integration; economic theory;
Summary/Abstract: Liberalism vs. Anarchism. Economics and anarchism were born within a generation of each other, economics in 1776 with the publication of Adam Smith’s Wealth of Nations, anarchism in 1793 with the publication of William Godwin’s Political Justice. Both works were liberal in the sense of advocating freedom as a primary social value. Both were rooted in British tradition: Smith’s in Scottish moral philosophy, which emphasized natural liberty and spontaneous social order, Godwin’s in English dissent, which emphasized the sacred right of conscience. Both works treated wealth, justice, and government: Smith argued that wealth is increased when governments restrict themselves to administering justice; Godwin argued that justice requires each person to use his wealth to maximize social utility, a duty with which governments should not interfere. The overlap in subject matter and the common bond in liberalism could have led to mutual regard; economics and anarchism could have grown together, complementing and correcting one another. Instead, with few exceptions, economists and anarchists treated each other with mutual disregard for almost two-hundred years.

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